Sheldon Adelson, billionaire publisher of the "Israel Hayom" daily, and his wife, Miriam, told the Israel Police Lahav 433 national fraud squad today and a month ago that they had been surprised, disappointed, and angry to learn about the conversations and promises allegedly made during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's talks with Arnon Mozes, publisher of the "Yedioth Ahronoth" daily, Channel 2 News reports.
The Adelsons went to the Lahav 433 offices for the sole purpose of giving evidence in the 2000 case. They are not suspects in the affair, and gave open evidence in separate rooms. They stayed for less than two hours.
According to the Adelsons, they did not know about the conversations between Netanyahu and Mozes, and expressed anger when they heard about these alleged conversations. A number of sources said that there was an open rift between the Adelsons and Netanyahu, among other things because of the affair.
At this stage, it is believed that the prime minister will be called to give evidence again on the two cases against him. As of now, there is no date for questioning, or for concluding the entire investigation.
Key axis in the affair
Sheldon Adelson gave evidence in the affair a month ago, after the police had for a long time tried to summon him. Adelson's evidence took three hours, and was described as critical, not a mere formality. It was made clear to Adelson that he was not a suspect in the case.
For the police, Adelson is a key axis in the talks between Netanyahu and Mozes, and the investigators wanted to know to what extent the two men intended to carry out the ideas raised in their meeting. Adelson's evidence was also designed to check to what extent he was aware of the "Israel Hayom" bill, or knew of it.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on June 27, 2017
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